Rutgers University Press: Blacks, Reds, and Russians: Joy Gleason Carew

Table of Contents

Introduction

1 A Journey Begins

Part I The Fellow Travelers

2 Early Sojourners Claude McKay and Otto Huiswood: Shaping the "Negro Question"

3 Harry Haywood, KUTVA, and Training Black Cadres

4 W.E.B. Du Bois and the Soviet Experiment

Part II The Technical and Agricultural Specialists
5 Robert Robinson and the Technical Specialists

6 George Washington Carver, Oliver Golden, and the Soviet Experiment

7 The Agricultural Specialists Journey to the Soviet Union

Part III The Artists and Intellectuals
8 Langston Hughes and the Black and White Film Group

9 Paul Robeson's Search for a Society Free of Racism

Part IV The Expatriates and New Sojourners
10 The Expatriates: The Purges, the War Years, and Beyond

11 William "Bill" Davis, the American National Exhibit, and U.S. Public Diplomacy

12 The Cold War, Solidarity Building, and the Recruitment of New Sojourners

Appendix: Family Lines of Sojourners/Expatriates

Blacks, Reds, and Russians

Bookstore | Seasonal Catalog Book Listings | Spring and Summer 2011 Catalog | Blacks, Reds, and Russians

Blacks, Reds, and Russians
First Paperback Edition

Cloth Price: $49.95
Paper Price: $28.95

Subtitle: Sojourners in Search of the Soviet Promise
Author: Joy Gleason Carew
Subject: History, African American Studies
Cloth ISBN 978-0-8135-4306-2
Paper ISBN 978-0-8135-4985-9
Pages: 304 pages, 1 figure
Publication Date: January 2011

Events

Book talk at Tennessee Tech University on March 14, 2012

"From Alabama to Moscow - Unusual Partnerships in Unusual Times: African Americans in Stalin's Russia"

This presentation addresses a little known aspect of the African American experience - Blacks lured to Stalinist Russian in a quest for better lives. In the 1920s and 1930s, African Americans were attracted to the Soviet Experiment's promise of a non-racial society which welcomed anyone of goodwill. Those who went in the 1920s were fellow travelers and political trainees. They were particularly anxious to learn tools from those who had overthrown their oppressive government. Of special note was the evidence of rapid improvement in the lives of the Soviet Union's own people of color, which challenged the prevailing cautions given to Blacks in the U.S. that it would take generations for their lives to improve. After the Stock Market collapse and the Great Depression, many went to Stalin's Soviet Union to live and work.

For further information, please contact:
Dr. Wali Kharif, History Dept., Tennessee Technological University

Telephone: 931-372-6322

Reviews for Blacks, Reds and Russians

"With penetrating intelligence and beautiful writing, Joy Gleason Carew sketches an intriguing portrait of African-Americans whose disgust with Jim Crow led them to embrace the Soviet Experience."-Gerald Horne, author of The Color of Fascism: Lawrence Dennis, Racial Passing, and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism in the United States

Description:

One of the most compelling, yet little known stories of race relations in the twentieth century is the account of blacks who chose to leave the United States to be involved in the Soviet Experiment in the 1920s and 1930s. Frustrated by the limitations imposed by racism in their home country, African Americans were lured by the promise of opportunity abroad. A number of them settled there, raised families, and became integrated into society. The Soviet economy likewise reaped enormous benefits from the talent and expertise that these individuals brought, and the all around success story became a platform for political leaders to boast their party goals of creating a society where all members were equal.

In Blacks, Reds, and Russians, Joy Gleason Carew offers insight into the political strategies that often underlie relationships between different peoples and countries. She draws on the autobiographies of key sojourners, including Harry Haywood and Robert Robinson, in addition to the writings of Claude McKay, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Langston Hughes. Interviews with the descendents of figures such as Paul Robeson and Oliver Golden offer rare personal insights into the story of a group of emigrants who, confronted by the daunting challenges of making a life for themselves in a racist United States, found unprecedented opportunities in communist Russia.

Relevant Links:

blackexpat.com

About the Author:

Joy Gleason Carew is an associate professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville.

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Cloth Price: $49.95
Paper Price: $28.95